Hydraulic needle nozzle



March 15, 1932. E. c. HUTCHINSON HYDRAULIC NEEDLE NOZZLE Filed March 17,1928 El 6. Hofc h/nson BY A TTORNEYS INVENTOR.

' known hydraulic principles.

prior needles have required frequent replaceadjustable needles.

Patented Mar. 15, 1932 7 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE" ELY c. HUTCHINSON,or AKLA D, C LIFORNIA. AssIeNOB. 'ro rnn rEL'roN WATER WHEEL COMPANY, or

V FORNIA SAN FRANCISCO, oanrronn'rn, A. CORPORATION OF CALI- HYDRAULICNEEDLE Nozz -E'.

Application filed March 17,1928. Serial 110. 262,491.

This invention relates generally tothe construction of hydraulic needlenozzles, and particularly to the needle members employed in suchdevices.

In hydraulic installations, suchas hydroelectric plants, it is common'toutilize discharge nozzles having orifices controlled by In order tosecure high efiiciency, the points of'these needles mustbe accuratelyshaped in accordance with Well In practice it has been found that theneedle points and the correlated stationary portionsof the nozzles aresubject to wear and erosion. Such wear may be due to a number ofdifferent causes, such as occurrence'aof abrasive materials or thepresence of chemical substances in the water being discharged. Becauseof distortion of the needle points from their true hydraulic form thruwear or erosion,

ment in order to keep the nozzles operating at high efliciency. Loss inefficiency due to wear is particularly detrimental in large turbine'installations or where comparatively high water heads are employed.

It is an object of this invention to devise a needle construction foraneedle nozzle which will resist wear and erosion, and which willtherefore maintain its operating effi ciency over comparatively longperiods.

It is a further object of this invention to devise a needle constructionwhich will permit the use of wear resisting material for the needlepoint without necessitating constructing the entireneedle body of suchmaterial. 3

It isa further objectof this invention to devise a novel needleconstruction for 'hy-' draulicno'zzles, which-will have a replaceablewear resisting point.

Further objects of the invention will appear from thefollowing-description in which needle constructed in accordance 'with.my

Fig. 3'isj a side, el'evational'viewin'cross section illustrating thewearoresisting jacket forthe coreshown inFig. 2. E I" Fig. 4 is'a sideelevational view in cross section illustrating the parts shownin Figs. 2

Fig. 5 is across sectional view taken along the line 55 of-Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a general view illustrating the complete hydraulic nozzle asapplied foruse witha hydraulic turbine.

As has been "previously explained, hydrauhc needle nozzles of the typeto which this invention relates are generally constructcd of a hollowtubular member 10 connected with a source of water under pressure. andhaving a discharge orifice 11 within which is disposed a needle 12. Thisneedle is asso- 'c'iated with mechanism well known in the art wherebv'itcan be adjusted longitudinally within the orifice 11, thus controllingthe flowof water. 1

The detailed construction of the preferred embodiment of my invention isshown" in Figs. :1 to 6 inclusive. Referring to these figures the needleshown consists generally of a body portion 14 and a point portion 16secured to one end of the body portion. Extending from'the other end ofthe body porworking portion of this bulb is formed by portion 16. In thepast such needleshave been constructed in such a manner thatit has beenimpracticable to employ wear resisting materials which would increasethe life of the nozzle, due to both the cost of; such materials and tothe fact that they are diifi-' cult to machine. In my invention Imakethe point 16 out of some suitable wear resisting metal, while thebody 14 and stem 17 are made of cheaper metal readily machinable' byordinary tool processes As substantial- 100 to' linclusive in assembledrelationship.-

ly all of the wear of the nozzle takes place along the surface of thepoint 16, my construction is fully as effective in operation as a needleconstructed entirely of expensive wear resisting material. Materialswhich will resistwear better than theusual readily machinable metals,are well "known in the art. For example I may employ *various metal.alloys generally known as stainless steels or Stainless irons, or I.may employ chrome nickel alloys, manganese steel, acid resistingmetals, and the like. .As-suchsmaterials are generally too hard tomachine by ordinary processes or so as to make their machiningexpensive, there is an added advantage in limiting the use of thismaterial to the point :portion 16, in that I can utilize a readilymachinable metal for the bo'dy portion lt andstem 1-7.

In the .preferredembodimen't f my inven tion, the point gportionlG ismade separable from the body 1 4, and the wear resisting'material ispreferably made in the form of a shell 18 which is secured to an innercore 19.

Core :19 :is detachably secured to the body "having a plurality fperipheral grooves 23.

'zl'hese grooves arevadapted :to receive a p.111-- rality 'of :spacedlugs 24. formed upon :the inner periphery .of the :shell 18. :Slots 26formed'in :the ribs between the grooves 23 make itpossible to seat theacket upon the core 19, after which the jacket may be rotated afractionof aturn with respect to the cone in order to interlock the :lugs 24"Within grooves'23. I havelalsoshown ribs or prozjecting portions 27extending across grooves 23, in order {to engage the lugs 24 and thuslimit relatiive turning movement between the jacket 16an d core 19. Tofacilitate aligning the core '19 with the jacket, I preferably providethe small end of core 19 with a conical projectioni28=which is adaptedto seat in an accurately positioned recess 29 formed withinzt' hejacket. After the :core hasbeen .propierly aligned with respect to thejacket, these described .above will. not only operate-at a 'struction isnot excessive.

due to its wear resisting properties, but when replacement is necessary,it is sufiicient to replace the point 16 rather than the entire 1 needleconstruction. Only a small amount of thehar d expensive Wear resistingmetal is employed, and thereforethe cost of'my con- The machining of theshell .16 can be done by tool .or grinding process, and during thisoperation I prefer to retain the shell upon a mandrel similar to .thecore l9 described above. Since the body, stem andcore are made ofrelatively soft lmetalrcomparedtoithe shell, these parts can be machinedwithout difliculty,

I claim:

":1. In :ahydraulic 'IIOZZl8, L needle 'compris- 7 ing a body member,acore detachably :s'ecured to said body, and a shell'of wear resistingJna-teria'l surrounding and mounted .upon said co're,-said shell beingformed :to provide a tapered end :portion *for the needle. 2. In ahydraulic nozzle, .needleacomprising a readily machinable .met'al .core,iaseparate shell of wear resisting material surrounding the core, andcast EIDGlIELl disposed between :adjacent portions :of said core and-shell:and serving to'retain rthe same in interlockingrengagementv 3. Ina hyd raul 'c nozzle, -'a;needle comprising :a body portion, .areadilywmachinable metal core detachabl y secured :to said body:portion, a separate shell of wear "resisting materialsurroundlngithecore, and castmetal disposed between adjacent portionsof "said to saidcore. 7

4t. Ina hydraulic'nozzle, aneedle comprising .a body member, a readilymaohinable metal core detachably secured'to :one end of the body, aseparate shell of wear resisting material surrounding thecore, the outerperiphery iofrsaid core and inner periphery of said shell havingport-ions capable of inter locking engagement. V

5. In a hydraulic nozzle, a :needle =comprising .a body portion, a scorezd'etaclrably secured to one end of said body 'portion,:a separateshelllof wear resisting material surrounding the core, the outerperiphery of sai'd core and the inner periphery of shell ha vingportions capable of interlocking engagement, and means "for retainingsaid portions in interlocking engagement. 7

.6. In a hydraulic nozzle, a-need-le compriscore .and shell :and serving;to lock said shell ing a body member, a rod extendingthrusaid 'member,metal core detachably connected ably secured :to said body,.and a shellvof wear resisting material surrounding and mounted upon said taperedcore, said shell being formed to provide a tapered end portion for theneedle.

8. In a hydraulic nozzle, a needle comprising a hollow body, a rodextending thru said body, a metal core member detachably connected toone end of said rod, and a tapered shell or jacket member surrounding ormounted upon said core member, said jacket member being made of wearresisting material differing from the metal of the core member,projecting portions formed upon a peripheral portion of one of saidmembers adapted to cooperate with complementary grooves formed in theadjacent peripheral portion of the other of said members, and cast metaldisposed between said members serving to securely fix the shell to thecore.

9. In a hydraulic nozzle, a needle having an enlargement or bulbthereon, the forward working portion of the bulb comprising a core and ashell surrounding and mounted upon the core, the shell being of amaterial having substantially better wear resisting properties than thematerial of the remaining portion of the bulb.

10. In a hydraulic nozzle, aneedle com- 7 prising a body portion and apoint portion, said point portion comprising a core and a wear resistingshell surrounding and mounted upon said core, and means for detachablysecuring said core to said body portion.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

ELY C. HUTCHINSON.

